Wheel Fitment Guide
12-06-2005, 06:58 AM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Wheel Fitment Guide
WHEEL FITMENT GUIDE
Table of Contents
1. How do I use this guide?
2. What is this offset business?
3. What causes rubbing?
4. What fits?
5. What is stagger and why do I need it?
1. How do I use this guide?
If you have time, read the whole thing. It contains a lot of useful information that will help you choose wheels and tires that fit the S2000 properly. If you don�t have time, skip down to the �What fits� section, and follow these instructions:
1.1 If you know what size tires you want to use (This is the best way to start):
1) Scroll down to the �What fits?� section, and find the tire width you want to use
2) Look at the offset listed for that size� it�s the minimum for that width of tire
3) Take note of the wheel widths� if you go wider, the wheels might stick out (Jeep!)
1.2 If you have found a wheel you just love, and want to know if it fits:
1) Scroll down to the �What fits?� section and find the rows that have your wheel width- (there may be more than one row)
2) Pick a tire width you want to use
3) Find the offset that goes with that tire width
4) Make sure the wheel you want to buy has at least that offset (higher is almost always OK, lower is not.)
2. What is this offset business?
The offset is the distance from the wheel centerline (midway between the front and back of the wheel) to the mounting face of the wheel that contacts the hub of the vehicle. The S2000 requires high positive offsets. A positive offsets indicates that the mounting surface of the wheel is closer to the front of the wheel than the back. This offset is expressed in millimeters, and is seen as numbers such as "+40" or "et40."
Since the offset is measured from the wheel centerline, and not the outside edge, the required wheel offset depends on the width of the wheel and tire.
3. What causes rubbing?
Rubbing is when the tire contacts some part of the car when the suspension is compressed from a bump or when the car is cornering. Usually it is the outermost tread of the tire that contacts the fender. If the offset is too high, then the tire may rub on the chassis or suspension components. Here�s the important thing: Since the offset is measured from the center of the wheel, the location of the tire tread (the part that can rub) does NOT depend on the width of the wheel, only the OFFSET of the wheel. What does this mean? It means that you can have two wheels, one 7 inches wide, and one 8 inches wide, and if the offset of the two wheels is the same, the tire will be in the same place relative to the fenders. The tire�s side wall makes up the difference between the 7� and 8� wheel. But the tread will be in the same place.
4. What fits?
Many people have tried many different wheels and tires on the S2000. Along the way, a lot of people have had problems with rubbing. Some had a little rubbing, and some had none. With all of this experimentation, a few things were figured out. The information below is not the drop dead final word of what will and will not fit. Certain things can be done to make something fit that otherwise wouldn't, such as increasing negative camber, running narrow tires, and rolling fenders, but that adds a lot of variability to this equation and thus is difficult to predict. We'll assume the owner has had a proper alignment, uses tires recommended for the chosen wheel width, and hasn't modified their fenders.
Based on successes and failures from many S2000 owners, we can use an offset calculator to figure out what other offsets and tires will work. These are minimum recommended offsets. You can use a higher offset if you want, and you will get additional fender clearance.
For the front:
Offsets lower than +43 are not recommended on the front because a very narrow tire would need to be used to avoid rubbing.
+43 to +47 offset: 6.5" - 7.5" wide wheel
+48 to +52 offset: 7.0" - 8.0" wide wheel
+58 to +62 offset: 7.5" - 8.5" wide wheel
+63 or higher offset: 7.5" - 8.5" wide wheel
For the rear:
Offsets below 40 are not recommended for the rear because a tire narrower than the stock tire would need to be used to avoid rubbing.
+40 to +44 offset: 7.5" - 8.5" wide wheel
+45 to +49 offset: 7.5" - 9.0" wide wheel
+50 to +54 offset: 8.0" - 9.5" wide wheel
+55 to +59 offset: 8.5" - 9.5" wide wheel
+60 to +64 offset: 9.0" - 10.0" wide wheel
+65 or higher offset: 9.0" - 10.0" wide wheel
Note: Verify wheel width by checking the tire manufacturer's specifications . These are guidelines that should work for most wheel and tire combinations.
The offsets above will all set the outside edge of the tire to the same place relative to the outer fender, rounding to the nearest millimeter.
Of course, the wheel width must be chosen to fit the tire you plan to use. You can�t stuff a 275 on a 7� wide wheel, and you wouldn�t want to use a 9� wide wheel with a 205 tire. Read the specs on the tires you want to use, and figure out what wheel width you should use.
4.1 OEM Fitments
For reference, the OEM MY00-03 (AP1) wheel sizes and offsets are as follows:
Front:
16" x 6.5", +55 offset, 205 tire
Rear:
16" x 7.5", +65 offset, 225 tire
and the OEM MY04+ (AP2) wheels are as follows:
Front:
17" x 7.0", +55 offset, 215 tire
Rear:
17" x 8.5", +65 offset, 245 tire (255 on the S2000 CR)
5. What is stagger and why do I need it?
If you look at the OEM wheel sizes above, you'll see that the OEM wheels have 1" of stagger for the AP1 and 1.5" of stagger for the AP2. That means the rear wheels are 1" wider than the fronts for the AP1, and 1.5" wider for the AP2. This is done in conjunction with the use of a wider tire, with a wider tread width in the rear. (See the stickies at the top of the Wheel and Tire Forum page for more info on proper tire tread widths.)
When choosing aftermarket wheels, wheels should be chosen that have stagger, like the OEM wheels. This allows you to use a wider tire on the rear, which is essential to proper handling and safety of the S2000. It is possible to run the same width wheels front and rear, and stagger only the tire sizes in a similar way to OEM tire sizes. However, this is not an ideal solution, because you may end up attempting to mount a tire on a wheel that's outside it's recommended width range. For instance, the popular 17x7" or 17x7.5" wheels that are so common. You could run the OEM AP2 tire sizes on these wheels, however the rear tire will be pinched on the rear wheel, because the OEM wheel is 8.5" wide. When pinching a wide tire on a narrow wheel, the intended performance and tread life of that tire may not be met.
So, when choosing aftermarket wheels, consider the tire sizes that will fit on them by looking at the specs of the tire you want to use (see the rim width specs), and try to maintain the stagger of wheel widths that the OEM sizes have. If anything, err on the side of a wider wheel and tire for the rear as this is the safer solution.
On a final note, here are a couple of links Xviper pointed out that are very helpful.
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/...jsp?techid=101
http://www.yokohamatire.com/utcustom.asp
Cheers.
Table of Contents
1. How do I use this guide?
2. What is this offset business?
3. What causes rubbing?
4. What fits?
5. What is stagger and why do I need it?
1. How do I use this guide?
If you have time, read the whole thing. It contains a lot of useful information that will help you choose wheels and tires that fit the S2000 properly. If you don�t have time, skip down to the �What fits� section, and follow these instructions:
1.1 If you know what size tires you want to use (This is the best way to start):
1) Scroll down to the �What fits?� section, and find the tire width you want to use
2) Look at the offset listed for that size� it�s the minimum for that width of tire
3) Take note of the wheel widths� if you go wider, the wheels might stick out (Jeep!)
1.2 If you have found a wheel you just love, and want to know if it fits:
1) Scroll down to the �What fits?� section and find the rows that have your wheel width- (there may be more than one row)
2) Pick a tire width you want to use
3) Find the offset that goes with that tire width
4) Make sure the wheel you want to buy has at least that offset (higher is almost always OK, lower is not.)
2. What is this offset business?
The offset is the distance from the wheel centerline (midway between the front and back of the wheel) to the mounting face of the wheel that contacts the hub of the vehicle. The S2000 requires high positive offsets. A positive offsets indicates that the mounting surface of the wheel is closer to the front of the wheel than the back. This offset is expressed in millimeters, and is seen as numbers such as "+40" or "et40."
Since the offset is measured from the wheel centerline, and not the outside edge, the required wheel offset depends on the width of the wheel and tire.
3. What causes rubbing?
Rubbing is when the tire contacts some part of the car when the suspension is compressed from a bump or when the car is cornering. Usually it is the outermost tread of the tire that contacts the fender. If the offset is too high, then the tire may rub on the chassis or suspension components. Here�s the important thing: Since the offset is measured from the center of the wheel, the location of the tire tread (the part that can rub) does NOT depend on the width of the wheel, only the OFFSET of the wheel. What does this mean? It means that you can have two wheels, one 7 inches wide, and one 8 inches wide, and if the offset of the two wheels is the same, the tire will be in the same place relative to the fenders. The tire�s side wall makes up the difference between the 7� and 8� wheel. But the tread will be in the same place.
4. What fits?
Many people have tried many different wheels and tires on the S2000. Along the way, a lot of people have had problems with rubbing. Some had a little rubbing, and some had none. With all of this experimentation, a few things were figured out. The information below is not the drop dead final word of what will and will not fit. Certain things can be done to make something fit that otherwise wouldn't, such as increasing negative camber, running narrow tires, and rolling fenders, but that adds a lot of variability to this equation and thus is difficult to predict. We'll assume the owner has had a proper alignment, uses tires recommended for the chosen wheel width, and hasn't modified their fenders.
Based on successes and failures from many S2000 owners, we can use an offset calculator to figure out what other offsets and tires will work. These are minimum recommended offsets. You can use a higher offset if you want, and you will get additional fender clearance.
For the front:
Offsets lower than +43 are not recommended on the front because a very narrow tire would need to be used to avoid rubbing.
+43 to +47 offset: 6.5" - 7.5" wide wheel
+48 to +52 offset: 7.0" - 8.0" wide wheel
+58 to +62 offset: 7.5" - 8.5" wide wheel
+63 or higher offset: 7.5" - 8.5" wide wheel
For the rear:
Offsets below 40 are not recommended for the rear because a tire narrower than the stock tire would need to be used to avoid rubbing.
+40 to +44 offset: 7.5" - 8.5" wide wheel
+45 to +49 offset: 7.5" - 9.0" wide wheel
+50 to +54 offset: 8.0" - 9.5" wide wheel
+55 to +59 offset: 8.5" - 9.5" wide wheel
+60 to +64 offset: 9.0" - 10.0" wide wheel
+65 or higher offset: 9.0" - 10.0" wide wheel
Note: Verify wheel width by checking the tire manufacturer's specifications . These are guidelines that should work for most wheel and tire combinations.
The offsets above will all set the outside edge of the tire to the same place relative to the outer fender, rounding to the nearest millimeter.
Of course, the wheel width must be chosen to fit the tire you plan to use. You can�t stuff a 275 on a 7� wide wheel, and you wouldn�t want to use a 9� wide wheel with a 205 tire. Read the specs on the tires you want to use, and figure out what wheel width you should use.
4.1 OEM Fitments
For reference, the OEM MY00-03 (AP1) wheel sizes and offsets are as follows:
Front:
16" x 6.5", +55 offset, 205 tire
Rear:
16" x 7.5", +65 offset, 225 tire
and the OEM MY04+ (AP2) wheels are as follows:
Front:
17" x 7.0", +55 offset, 215 tire
Rear:
17" x 8.5", +65 offset, 245 tire (255 on the S2000 CR)
5. What is stagger and why do I need it?
If you look at the OEM wheel sizes above, you'll see that the OEM wheels have 1" of stagger for the AP1 and 1.5" of stagger for the AP2. That means the rear wheels are 1" wider than the fronts for the AP1, and 1.5" wider for the AP2. This is done in conjunction with the use of a wider tire, with a wider tread width in the rear. (See the stickies at the top of the Wheel and Tire Forum page for more info on proper tire tread widths.)
When choosing aftermarket wheels, wheels should be chosen that have stagger, like the OEM wheels. This allows you to use a wider tire on the rear, which is essential to proper handling and safety of the S2000. It is possible to run the same width wheels front and rear, and stagger only the tire sizes in a similar way to OEM tire sizes. However, this is not an ideal solution, because you may end up attempting to mount a tire on a wheel that's outside it's recommended width range. For instance, the popular 17x7" or 17x7.5" wheels that are so common. You could run the OEM AP2 tire sizes on these wheels, however the rear tire will be pinched on the rear wheel, because the OEM wheel is 8.5" wide. When pinching a wide tire on a narrow wheel, the intended performance and tread life of that tire may not be met.
So, when choosing aftermarket wheels, consider the tire sizes that will fit on them by looking at the specs of the tire you want to use (see the rim width specs), and try to maintain the stagger of wheel widths that the OEM sizes have. If anything, err on the side of a wider wheel and tire for the rear as this is the safer solution.
On a final note, here are a couple of links Xviper pointed out that are very helpful.
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/...jsp?techid=101
http://www.yokohamatire.com/utcustom.asp
Cheers.
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12-06-2005, 07:17 AM
#2
If I may add:
For a "visual" of this whole offset business, look here:
http://www.yokohamatire.com/utcustom.asp
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/...jsp?techid=101
It was brought to my attention that information regarding the hub size of the S2000 is lacking in this thread and that this information is also of some importance when selecting an aftermarket rim. Hence, I am linking this thread that I did a while ago showing (with pictures), the hub size (and rim centerbore measurement) and the importance of hub centering rings:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...&f=56&t=378906
For a "visual" of this whole offset business, look here:
http://www.yokohamatire.com/utcustom.asp
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/...jsp?techid=101
It was brought to my attention that information regarding the hub size of the S2000 is lacking in this thread and that this information is also of some importance when selecting an aftermarket rim. Hence, I am linking this thread that I did a while ago showing (with pictures), the hub size (and rim centerbore measurement) and the importance of hub centering rings:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...&f=56&t=378906
The following users liked this post:
jorges2k (08-21-2017)
12-06-2005, 07:31 AM
#4
Registered User
width offset extends past rear edge(MM) extends past front(MM)
7.5 65
6.5 55
8..........40...........31.35...............34.05
8.5.......46............31.7................34.4
9..........53...........31.05...............33.75
9.5.......59...........31.4.................34.1
10........65...........31.75...............34.45
7.5.......48............17...................19.7
8.........,54............17.35..............20.05
8.5.......61............16.7................19.4
9..........67............17.05..............19.75
i made a quick'n'dirty excel sheet to calculate just how much further out an aftermarket rim would stick out in comparison to the stock rims. measurement is in MM. So starting out from stock wheels, measure just how much room you have when the wheels are starting to tuck. I think you also have to take into consideration if you are lowered or not, since when re-aligned for the new drop clearances could be different.
so i guess the question is (at least for your numbers) do you have over 3cm of clear space between tire and metal with stock wheels and the suspension compressed?
7.5 65
6.5 55
8..........40...........31.35...............34.05
8.5.......46............31.7................34.4
9..........53...........31.05...............33.75
9.5.......59...........31.4.................34.1
10........65...........31.75...............34.45
7.5.......48............17...................19.7
8.........,54............17.35..............20.05
8.5.......61............16.7................19.4
9..........67............17.05..............19.75
i made a quick'n'dirty excel sheet to calculate just how much further out an aftermarket rim would stick out in comparison to the stock rims. measurement is in MM. So starting out from stock wheels, measure just how much room you have when the wheels are starting to tuck. I think you also have to take into consideration if you are lowered or not, since when re-aligned for the new drop clearances could be different.
so i guess the question is (at least for your numbers) do you have over 3cm of clear space between tire and metal with stock wheels and the suspension compressed?
12-06-2005, 07:42 AM
#5
Registered User
Thread Starter
I have a similar spreadsheet I use, here's a screen shot of part of it:
I found reading on this forum that measuring the car and extrapolating didn't match exactly what members' experiences and Jim's recommendations were telling us, which is why I started from a baseline fitment that is a known quantity based on many members observations, and then used the offset calculator to find the offsets that would put the outer edge of the wheel in the same place.
The fitment guide isn't designed to account for lowering. There are too many additional variables associated with that and the alignments (or lack of) that people have after lowering. Too many people drop the car and then drive, and report that they do or do not rub, without specifying their alignment specs, to gain useful concrete data on it, IMO.
I found reading on this forum that measuring the car and extrapolating didn't match exactly what members' experiences and Jim's recommendations were telling us, which is why I started from a baseline fitment that is a known quantity based on many members observations, and then used the offset calculator to find the offsets that would put the outer edge of the wheel in the same place.
The fitment guide isn't designed to account for lowering. There are too many additional variables associated with that and the alignments (or lack of) that people have after lowering. Too many people drop the car and then drive, and report that they do or do not rub, without specifying their alignment specs, to gain useful concrete data on it, IMO.
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DOXI (07-16-2020)
12-06-2005, 07:50 AM
#6
Registered User
I agree. btw, i cleaned up the list a bit so the numbers are distinguishable.
i sorta miss the simplicity of my old car. almost no rear camber adjustment. our fitment guide for it was easy, 7.5 required at least +48 and max tire width of X, 8" won't fit, etc. Site had a member w/ his own wheel shop, would try and just about any wheel tire combo he could and posted his "fitment guide" which everybody just about swore by.
i sorta miss the simplicity of my old car. almost no rear camber adjustment. our fitment guide for it was easy, 7.5 required at least +48 and max tire width of X, 8" won't fit, etc. Site had a member w/ his own wheel shop, would try and just about any wheel tire combo he could and posted his "fitment guide" which everybody just about swore by.
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J2k25 (03-26-2019)
12-06-2005, 03:43 PM
#7
Registered User
Thread Starter
Trending Topics
12-07-2005, 08:33 AM
#8
Originally Posted by spa-zz,Dec 7 2005, 10:38 AM
Mods, do you think this is worthy of stickyness? Sticktatude? Stickocity? 
I think it would help to have something up there as a reference for wheel fitment because that seems to be the predominant question around here.
I think it would help to have something up there as a reference for wheel fitment because that seems to be the predominant question around here.
12-07-2005, 09:49 AM
#10
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Join Date: Jun 2005
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Most excellent!!!!!!! Admins please "sticky" this, I would also like to see responses from real world fitments put in with tire sizes, alignment settings, fender mods and how much the car has been lowered.
Maybe Jim or another tire guru could also post recommended tire sizes as well?
THANK YOU SPA-ZZ!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe Jim or another tire guru could also post recommended tire sizes as well?
THANK YOU SPA-ZZ!!!!!!!!!!
